Somerset Island

The plan was to get to Resolute, pick up our part sent by Niad, do some light provisioning and find the crew unrestricted internet access.  Someone forgot to let Mother Nature in on our plan. We first encountered the ice sheets and fog about 2:00 in the afternoon and as the day rolled on they became heavier and more permanent.  The wind had been blowing out of the east for the past few days and was forecast to do the same through the 10^th, allowing any ice in the general area that wasn’t permanently nailed down to head back toward Resolute.  At 8:00 p.m. we arrived about two miles off the harbor entrance and try as we may couldn’t find a lead or opening in.  (We did happen to see this guy though – see attached picture shot by Greg DeAscentis- who was pretty entertaining). It was our collective and sober reasoning that even had we found an opening there was no knowing how much ice, if any, would be blown into the harbor itself and how long it could trap us there… or worse. 

Around 9:30 p.m. we pointed the boat south down Peel Sound where we currently sit on anchor in a small cove on the west side of Somerset Island.  The good news is that this gets us closer Cambridge Bay where we plan to refuel and have the Niad part sent; the bad news is that the central ice (about 50 miles away) still hasn’t broken up and as of right now it’s impossible to get there.  For the first time since we left Newport I’m starting to explore the grim scenario of the ice simply not opening up this year.  Having said that I have to admit that this thinking is a bit premature and we’re still a bit early to enter. Also, there’re no indications that this year will be any less likely to open than last year, but nonetheless the thought adds to the myriad of other nagging ones (don’t ask) that swirl around my addled brain at 2:00 in the morning.